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Ostensibly about new regulations in Oregon, this turned into a wide ranging interview about research on raw milk health benefits, the history of raw milk, and regulation of raw milk cheese.
In this in-depth interview, host Erin Fairbanks inquires about organic vs raw milk, fractionating of milk, why all raw milk isn’t the same, and a number of other subjects raised in The Raw Milk Answer Book.
In this 13-minute “Morning Edition” report from NPR, Atlanta, I am interviewed by Steve Goss about the history of raw milk, CDC claims about risk, the national crackdown on raw milk dairies, and the FDA’s role in regulating raw milk.
In this interview with Foxboro, MA, cable station, I discuss the pros and cons of making raw milk available in Massachusetts. About 15 minutes.
I go out on a limb in this NPR segment on how one prominent GMO supporter has come out in favor of labeling….suggesting that food companies will begin coming around to support GMO labeling.
In this podcast by Ben Stone, aka The Bad Quaker, I explore the corporate influence on overbearing regulation of small farms and discrepancies in CDC food safety data.
I discuss the sinister relationship between government regulation and food monopolies. I also explain why food safety is used as an excuse to infringe on food rights.
Editor Chris Walters questions me about various food rights legal cases, about the legal precedents that are being established, and about why the outrages of the government crackdown are so difficult for liberals to appreciate. It’s a wide-ranging discussion directed by a knowledgeable interviewer.
“Although Michelle Obama may be justifiably proud of the organic food garden she planted her first summer at the White House, her husband’s administration continues to wage a war on the small farmer direct-sales-of-healthy-food-to-consumers food movement.”–from Karlin’s intro to the interview.
I discuss how food rights relates to “50 Shades of Grey”, why big companies should worry about food rights, and the most important issues in the Hershberger WI raw milk trial.


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|The future Baton Rouge Books.|
A new Black-owned independent bookstore called Baton Rouge Books is coming to Baton Rouge, La., early next year, BR Proud reported.
Bookstore founder James Curtis plans to open the store during Black History Month 2023. He is also the owner of Outside Stimuli, a plant shop and studio in Baton Rouge that helps incubate projects with positive social and economic impact. Rather than launch a crowdfunding campaign or apply for grants, he is selling handmade wooden pencil holders for $35 each to help fund the bookstore, with the message being, "with our own hands, we can self-fund."
|Pencil holder to support the new bookstore.|
Curtis told BR Proud that despite Baton Rouge having a population that is more than half Black, he was one of the very few Black business owners in the city's downtown. Through conversations with customers and community members, he decided that opening a bookstore that better reflects the reality of the city was what Baton Rouge needed.
"You can come into a space where you can not only learn about the people you live amongst, but you can also express who you are and your culture," Curtis said. He added: "We are trying to create something where whether you are a student, whether you are someone who's working or living downtown, there's a space for all of us."

domain: news


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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) - The American stock market's top gainers so far this year are stuffed with metal.
Miners of base metals, minerals, precious metals and non-ferrous metals comprise three of the top five industry groups in CBS MarketWatch rankings. The other top gainers are household products and health-care providers. See the CBS MarketWatch rankings.
In many cases, investors in American mines are benefiting not from a tremendous rise in the price of their underlying commodities, but from lower cash operating costs.
If a company produces or distributes iron ore, gold, copper, nickel or any of a number of specialty metals such as brass and stainless steel, it's most likely a top gainer this year in a punishing stock market. The stock market gains have come with small, steady gains in the prices of most metal commodities.
The Commodity Research Bureau Index (1864498) since January is up just 5 percent. But that gauge of natural resources is dominated by agricultural (coffee, sugar, grains, livestock), energy and precious metals products.
The fact is that many precious and non-ferrous metals and other mining products, like coal, are rising doggedly from years of depressed prices. Some sectors, like steel, are seeing big, and some say unsustainable price increases this year, In other words, it's not just pig-iron prices anymore.
Mining companies are also lowering their cash costs for producing just about everything, from copper and gold to scrap steel. Mines are consolidating, causing analysts to breathe a sigh of relief. In some cases, like that of industrial miner Cleveland Cliffs CLF, +0.18%, which is actually losing money yet ranks as one of the group's top performers with a 49 percent stock market gain this year, those combining mines are, analyst David MacGregor at First Tennessee Securities' Midwest Research notes, "located virtually across the road from each other in northern Michigan."
A.M. Castle CAS, -0.51%, a 112-year-old Illinois distributor of what they call engineered metals, like stainless steels and brass, made it a point in its most recent quarterly statement to trumpet how it is slashing costs so much, its break-even point on sales is 20 percent below where it used to be. The stock is up 42 percent this year, so investors must appreciate the fact its quarterly operating expenses fell by $10 million or so.
As in the gold market, falling mine expenses, sprinkled with a rising price for long-dormant metals, is all investors needed to see this year to roll the dice. Whether some industries, like steel, will add to their gains remains to be seen.
Steel prices in the United States are up about 30 percent since the start of the year. Helping steel prices: a number of steel mill shutdowns, plus American tariffs that make it expensive for some countries, like China, Brazil and Japan, to export steel products to the United States. Steel processors have enjoyed stock market gains of 50 percent and more this year.
Yet it is still the cost-cutting theme that carries the day. At Gibraltar Steel ROCK, -0.19% in Buffalo, N.Y., net profit is up sharply. The thanks goes in part to reduced inventories, lower interest rate expenses and an "attack" on other costs, including a "re-engineering of our health-care plans," the company said.
Gibraltar's Ken Houseknecht, director of investor relations, also pointed to a rising audience for the company's products. "Over the last eight years, we've gone from 900 customers to 10,000. In '93, only 14 percent of our sales were manufactured end products; today it's 51 percent. We now make more than 5,000 products, including mailboxes, where we are the largest manufacturer in the United States, and possibly the world," Houseknecht said Thursday afternoon.
The top five CBS MarketWatch stock market groups since Jan. 2: Mining, up 55 percent; precious metals, up 46 percent; household products, up 22 percent; non-ferrous metals up 22 percent; health-care providers, up 21 percent. See the rankings.
Health-care providers, by the way, are doing so well, they have become a favorite of the momentum stock crowd. "Consumers are paying more for health care, and this not a secret," says Douglas Lomma at Technimentals Research in New York. "Whether it's paid through payroll deduction or as an out-of-pocket expense, the numbers are getting larger and this is certainly taking a bite out of consumer discretionary income. Much like energy prices have accomplished lately."


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South Port says full-year profit will exceed guidance on log trade, fertiliser
Dec. 21 (BusinessDesk) - South Port New Zealand Ltd., which operates the nation’s southern-most port at Bluff, said 2011 earnings will exceed its forecast range because of increased volumes of logs exported to China and a return to normal output from the Tiwai Aluminium Smelter.
Full-year profit will exceed the $3.5 million to $3.9 million range given in the company’s 2010 annual report, South Port said in a statement today. In the first five months of the year, total cargo volume was 1.09 million tonnes, up from 820,000 tonnes in the same period a year earlier.
“This additional tonnage is attributable to strong Chinese log demand, higher than expected fertiliser application in the region and increased imports of stock food,” the port company said. “In addition, greater containerised cargo has been generated by the MSC Capricorn service plus the Rio Tinto Alcan operated NZAS Tiwai Aluminium Smelter has reverted to more normal production levels.”
Volumes from the smelter recovered after a transformer explosion took out a third of production last year.
The company will give a new forecast with its first-half results on Feb.10, it said.
South Port’s shares were unchanged at $2.52 today and have fallen about 7% this year.


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When MotoGP comes to town, so do leagues of motorcycle fans. Could there possibly be a better time for a motorcycle show that highlights custom creations from some of the world’s most renown builders?
Rolling with these thoughts, Revival Cycles – a custom motorcycle shop in Austin – teamed up with Moto Guzzi and Circuit of the Americas last year to host the Handbuilt Motorcycle Show.
Due its success, the show will return this year for the second-annual Handbuilt Motorcycle Show, presented by Moto Guzzi. The show has expanded to three days, and is set for April 10-12 in downtown Austin. It also remains free and open to all ages.
The 2015 Handbuilt Motorcycle Show will feature customs from builders including Roland Sands Deus Ex Machina, Shinya Kimura, and others.
Moto Guzzi USA says it will display the brand new Moto Guzzi Garage Kits in “Dapper”, “Dark Rider”, “Scrambler” and “Legend” variations. Separately, Moto Guzzi will showcase pre-production models of the highly anticipated Moto Guzzi Eldorado and Audace motorcycles, as well as the limited production V7 Racer Verde Legnano Special Edition.
Besides motorcycles, on display will be carefully curated selection of art from the Oil & Ink Print Expo with motorcycle-themed prints created by artists worldwide, and a handful of work from additional artists on display.
The American Motordrome Wall of Death will be back again this year, performing death-defying stunts on vintage machines, every hour, on the hour. Austin fine food and drink staples will be available for purchase, and The Handbuilt Motorcycle Show will have surprise activities planned for those in attendance, Moto Guzzi says.
The Handbuilt Motorcycle Show will again be the off-site event to visit during the MotoGP weekend, and RSVP is encouraged to ensure entry. To RSVP and find out more about The Handbuilt Motorcycle Show, and its sponsors visit http://www.handbuiltmotorcycleshow.com
2015 Handbuilt Motorcycle Show Presented by Moto Guzzi USA Details:
- WHO: Moto Guzzi USA and Revival Cycles
- WHAT: 2015 Handbuilt Motorcycle Show presented by Moto Guzzi WHERE: Fair Market, 1100 E. 5th St., Austin, TX 78702
- WHEN: Friday, April 10, 6pm-12am; Saturday, April 11, 10am-12am; Sunday, April 12, 10pm-5pm
- HOW: RSVP at www.handbuiltmotorcycleshow.com


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Not every Apple product gets a big, showy product launch. On Tuesday, the company quietly refreshed its line of iMacs and released new accessories
The most impressive upgrade comes to its 21.5-inch iMac, which is now available with a Retina 4K display. The entire line of 27-inch iMacs now come with Retina 5K displays, unlike before, when only the top-of-the-line model featured the technology.
Read More from NBC News
All of the iMacs will get a boost in the graphics and processor departments. The 27-inch model starts at $1,799, while the 4K 21-inch iMac will cost you $1,499.
"From the first iMac to today, the spirit of iMac has never wavered — deliver the ultimate desktop experience with the latest technologies, gorgeous displays and cutting-edge designs," Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, said in a statement
Apple also released the Magic Mouse 2 ($79), which glides more smoothly across a wider variety of surfaces than the old mode and features Force Touch, giving iMac users increased control over their desktop
The Magic Trackpad 2 ($129) adds Force Touch to a surface that is 29 percent larger than its predecessor. Apple slimmed down its Magic Keyboard ($99) by 13 percent despite the fact that the keys are actually wider. The new iMacs ship with the improved mouse and keyboard, with the trackpad available as an extra.


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There is a saying "Strike while the iron is hot". That is what Silicon Valley is doing - investing big in India where the economy grows faster.
Northwest Biotherapeutics, a company backed by venture capitalist Linda Powers, seeks to develop therapies for brain cancer and other tumors after nearly closing its doors a decade ago, Reuters reported.
Marc Andreessen, venture capitalist and founder of Netscape, is optimistic that tech is already recovering from the 2008 financial crisis and that it has decades of growth ahead, TechCrunch reported.
HealthTech Capital Founder and veteran venture capitalist Anne DeGheest warns that there is a bubble forming in information technology for the healthcare industry in an interview with The Wall Street Journal's blog Venture Capital Dispatch.
Venture capitalist and co-founder of Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers Tom Perkins says he regretted comparing the rich to the Jewish victims of Nazi Germany in an interview with Emily Chang of Bloomberg West TV, VentureBeat reported.
Venture capitalist Jamie McCourt gave a $25,000 grant to UNICEF to support this year's UNICEF Ball fund campaign. McCourt, who owns Jamie Enterprises, gave the grant late last month.
VentureBeat reported that 2013 was a good year for venture capital firms as it was the third quarter in a row when there were more than 20 venture-backed companies that held their public debuts.
Venture capital firm Northzone had set up its biggest fund yet at EUR200 million or USD272 million. The fund will be geared towards making investments in startups within the Nordic region and businesses who had partnered with a Nordic-influenced startup.
Foundation had filed its official IPO documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission as it plans to raise US$86.25 million in equity funding.
A group of experts said Georgia is the leader in startup investing.
BizAnytime, a cloud based system, secured over US $2 million seed fund from small venture capitalists.
UpTo revealed that they have gathered US$2 million from venture capitalists.
A PricewaterhouseCoopers report revealed that venture capitalists invested more than US$132 million into Ohio in the second quarter of 2013.
Ping Identity Corp stated that it raised around US$44 million from private equity and venture capital investors.
Tivli gets financing from venture capitalists amounting to US $3.6 million.


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Power couple reconciles News & Analysis 9/28/2007 Post a comment IBM and Freescale, which had a parting of the ways after co-developing the Power microprocessor in the 1990s, have reunited their efforts through the Power.org group.
New cable eases data-center crunch News & Analysis 9/28/2007 Post a comment Quellan Inc. and W.L. Gore & Associates have collaborated on a new copper interconnect for data center systems that the duo claims will significantly reduce power, size and latency while extending reach.
Falling ASPs for TV ICs impact revenue growth News & Analysis 9/28/2007 Post a comment While revenue for TV IC manufacturers declined 3 percent quarter-to-quarter due to ASP margin declines in second quarter 2007, TV IC shipments increased 12 percent quarter-to-quarter and 51 percent year-to-year, according to DisplaySearch.
Avnet pays $80 million for Acal's IT solutions unit News & Analysis 9/27/2007 Post a comment Avnet, Inc. has bought, for Ł41 million (about $80 million), the IT Solutions division of British distributor Acal plc. Acal said it would now focus on its two other divisions, electronics and parts services, and that some of the proceeds would be used to seek strategic acquisitions to expand these groups.
AMCC readies 1-GHz embedded processor Product News 9/27/2007 Post a comment Based on the Power Architecture standard, AMCC's latest processor for wireless infrastructure and enterprise networking applications embeds a superscalar core that delivers a frequency ranging from 667-MHz to 1.2-GHz with 2.0 Dhrystone MIPS/MHz.
Controller supplies power to CableCard hosts Product News 9/26/2007 Post a comment Designed to supply power to CableCard 2.0 cards in CableCard host systems, the MIC2569YQS from Micrel supports both S-Mode (Single Stream Video) and M-Mode (Multiple Stream Video) through a simple-to-control parallel interface.
Market watcher slashes chip forecast News & Analysis 9/26/2007 Post a comment Market watcher iSuppli Corp. has cut its forecast of global semiconductor revenue growth in 2007 to 3.5 percent, down from its previous prediction of a six percent rise due to weakness in sales in the first half of the year that will not be offset by the current uptick in growth.
Audio amp reduces EMI, optimizes power Product News 9/26/2007 Post a comment National Semiconductor says it has introduced the industry's first single-chip 3-W mono Class D audio amplifier with spread spectrum technology and an integrated boost converter. This device enables portable products to operate at a constant output power even at low battery voltages.
150-W power conversion IC speeds energy-efficiency compliance Product News 9/26/2007 Post a comment Power Integrations has announced the TOPSwitch-HX AC-DC power conversion chip, which incorporates a 700-V power MOSFET, high voltage switched current source, PWM control, oscillator, thermal shutdown circuit, fault protection and other control circuitry onto a monolithic device.
Electronics hone racer's edge Teardown 9/26/2007 Post a comment A teardown by Portelligent of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP racing motorcycle shows a system that melds cutting-edge electronics and communications technology human skill and instinct to both man and machine in good stead at track speeds in excess of 200 MPH.
Electric motorbike teardown Teardown 9/26/2007 6 comments Vectrix designed its battery-powered VX1 motor scooter to go up against motorbikes from the likes of Honda and Yamaha. A teardown of the system shows how successful the company was at balancing performance with economy and low emissions.
Dual N-channel MOSFETs cut board space by 50% Product News 9/25/2007 Post a comment Fairchild Semiconductor's two latest dual N-channel PowerTrench MOSFETs are two highly integrated modules that are designed to reduce board space while providing the ability to achieve higher conversion efficiency in synchronous buck designs.
Power group rallies around roadmap News & Analysis 9/25/2007 Post a comment At its first technical conference, the Power.org group laid out a roadmap of stepwise improvements for Power microprocessors, led by IBM Corp. and Freescale Semiconductor, who seek to keep its software base stable while expanding use of multi-core techniques and its penetration into consumer markets.
Playstation3 helps robots see News & Analysis 9/24/2007 Post a comment A team of university researchers from Dartmouth and the University of California ported to Cell processors on a network of Sony Playstation3s a new vision algorithm derived from brain research as part of an effort to enable machine vision in robots.
As data rates begin to move beyond 25 Gbps channels, new problems arise. Getting to 50 Gbps channels might not be possible with the traditional NRZ (2-level) signaling. PAM4 lets data rates double with only a small increase in channel bandwidth by sending two bits per symbol. But, it brings new measurement and analysis problems. Signal integrity sage Ransom Stephens will explain how PAM4 differs from NRZ and what to expect in design, measurement, and signal analysis.
January 2016 Cartoon Caption ContestBob's punishment for missing his deadline was to be tied to his chair tantalizingly close to a disconnected cable, with one hand superglued to his desk and another to his chin, while the pages from his wall calendar were slowly torn away.122 comments


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Consensys Report: CBDC are Risk-Free Compared to Facebook Libra
Throughout 2019, Central banks around the world announced that they would be exploring the development and issuance of central bank digital currencies (CBDC).
In a recent white paper entitled Central Banks and the Future of Digital Money—Consensys offers an insightful and practical overview of the potential and risks of CBDC. The research paper also offers an example of how the Ethereum blockchain can be leveraged to design and build a CBDC and takes a deep dive into what the practical implementation of a CBDC would require.
Blockchain-based CBDCs represent a new technology for the issuance of central bank money at the wholesale and retail level, however, the idea of digital money issued directly by a central bank is not new. The white paper highlights that the 1990s and 2000s saw periods of interest among the general public, but these projects were never pursued.
CBDCs are digital assets that are pegged to a real-world asset and backed by the central banks meaning that they represent a claim against the bank exactly the way banknotes work. Central banks will also be in full control of the supply.
The report categorizes CBDC in two distinct ways, Wholesale CBDC to facilitate payments between banks and other entities that have accounts with the central bank; and, the second is Retail CBDC for retail payments.
There are a number of potential advantages for central banks should CDBCs be adopted. It would foster financial services innovation by providing a viable, large-scale payments system for tokenised assets markets. The main difference between a privately owned stablecoin like Facebook’s proposed Libra and a CBDC is that the latter would be risk-free and would not expose users to credit or liquidity risks.
If CBDC is widely used instead of private payment tokens, like Libra, it would also allow central banks to retain sovereignty over their monetary policy in tokenized assets markets which has been a concern of regulators since the launch of Facebook’s Libra foundation.
The white paper highlights this as an important consideration should such tokenized markets come to represent significant portions of the economy. There is also the potential for enhanced regulatory monitoring and enforcement tools, cheaper cross-border remittances and depending on how it is designed, a CBDC could support inclusive finance by providing wide-scale access to risk-free reserves.


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Early online deals lured in consumers early this holiday season, but millions of consumers will still search for deals online on Cyber Monday.
Approximately 122 million Americans plan on shopping today, up form the 121 million who participated last year.
Here are five things you should know before finding the best deals online today:
1. People are reaching for their phones to shop for presents, and some are doing it at work. More than 28 million people — or 23 percent of Cyber Monday shoppers — plan to shop for Cyber Monday deals from their mobile devices this year. More than 98 million people will use their computers at home to shop for deals, while 11.2 million will shop from their computers at work.
2. Use your credit card for online purchases. According to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, using your credit card for online purchases is smarter than using a debit card. In general, when you pay with a credit card, you have certain rights to dispute unauthorized charges that you may not have with a debit card or other form of payment.
3. As online shopping becomes increasingly popular, delivery services are estimated to send more than a billion packages this holiday season. Shipping services — like FedEx, United Parcel Service (UPS) and the United States Postal Service — have reminded customers to be aware of delivery deadlines. These are the guidelines you should follow to make sure your gifts are delivered on time.
4. Early morning remains the busiest time for online shopping. More than 38 percent of consumers shopping on Cyber Monday planned to shop first thing in the morning. More than 33 percent will shop late in the morning, and 16 percent will shop over lunch.
5. Make sure to shop at legitimate online retailers. Use secure websites. Use secure websites whenever you need to enter personal information online. Look for websites that begin with “https” instead of just “http.” The “s” stands for secure.


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In 2016, Chipotle reported its first-ever quarter of declining sales, with revenue down 6.8% to just under $1 billion. During the period, same-store sales declined 14.6% and net income plummeted 44% to $67.9 million. This decline, of course, was a result of the company’s food safety crisis following the burrito chain’s devastating E. coli and Norovirus outbreaks.Read More
There has been a lot of discussion as to what the future holds for advanced manufacturing. The move to technology and automation in both assembly and production lines has created fears around job displacement and losses for manufacturers everywhere. The reality could not be further from this. In the U.K. alone, the addition of technology in manufacturing processes has added 3.5 million jobs compared to the 800,000 jobs displaced.Read More
When the earliest forms of agriculture were sprouting up nearly 10,000 years ago, we had little knowledge that someday we might be faced with food sustainability challenges. Our current methods for producing nutritious foods are not able to keep up with the pace of our population growth. According to some estimates, there will be more than 9 billion humans on this planet within the next 50 years, and we need to double our food production by 2030.Read More
The preparation, processing, and packaging of our food has increasingly become an automated process with the rise of robotic and automation equipment. And this trend — which is expected to continue for the next several years — brings perks for both the manufacturer and consumer.Read More
Midlothian Independent School District experienced record activity for a fourth quarter, according to the most recent School District Strategies report.
The district’s new-home market produced record highs in 2017 with 791 starts and 634 closings — up 41% and 43%, respectively.Read More
Texas is widely known as a top business destination for a variety of industries. And while cotton, cattle, and oil may historically come to mind, the versatile state has greatly diversified its economic base over the years.
Currently, Texas’ extensive business portfolio spans not only its flagship industries of petroleum refining and chemical products, but also advanced technology and manufacturing, automotive, aviation and aerospace, biotechnology, information technology, energy, and more.Read More
As with any professional environment, maximizing your employees’ potential and production power is critical to long-term success.Read More
Few things can tell a community’s story better than its business residents’ insights. This is why we created the “Why Midlothian?” series.
In this series, Midlothian companies share their experiences, observations and impressions about why Midlothian has proven a great fit for their business needs.Read More
While many advanced manufacturing workers are fearful for their jobs with the influx of technology in the industry, there are many benefits to be reaped from the addition of automation and artificial intelligence in assembly and production lines.
The reality is that the inclusion of new technologies has created efficiency and supply chain possibilities that were previously unimaginable. This Industry 4.0 movement has not only facilitated greater productivity and lower costs, but offers a...Read More


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COMPTON, Calif. (July 15, 2016) — Off-road parts retailer 4 Wheel Parts will hold a grand opening for its 75th retail store July 16 in Richmond, Va.
The event, which runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., comes on the heels of recent grand openings in Jacksonville, Fla., and Langley, British Columbia.
“We're truly humbled by the growth that we've experienced in recent years,” said 4 Wheel Parts President and CEO Greg Adler. “Through the support of tremendous communities and, of course, passionate off-road enthusiasts, we are proud to reach this milestone with the opening of our newest 4 Wheel Parts store in Richmond, Va. This company began with a catalog at the kitchen table and for us to now be opening this 75th store is exceedingly rewarding.”
Admission to the event is free, 4 Wheel Parts said, adding it will offer discounted grand opening specials on products and installation services.
4 Wheel Parts operates locations across the U.S. and Canada which sell off-road tires, wheels, lift kits and accessories. For more information, visit 4wheelparts.com.


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Australia’s most successful bakery franchise Bakers Delight has joined a push by retailers to “rebalance” the power between landlords and store owners in setting rent prices.
The bakery’s property manager Gerry Gerrard told SmartCompany retailers are at the mercy of landlords, with most demanding rent increases of 25-40% during negotiations.
The owners of the chain’s 600 bakeries have to hand over sales reports and Gerrard says landlords are using these to come up with prices which reflect what the store owner can afford to pay, rather than basing calculations off rental markets like other property landlords.
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“Bakers Delight has been the recipient of opening offers from landlords which are 25-40% above what they’re playing at the moment and we’re certainly not on a honeymoon. Landlords are being bullish.”
“The highest increase I’ve seen this year is a 76% increase at the first offer. This isn’t necessarily what ends up being paid, but this is coming on the back of a very hard trading time. Stores have been lucky to hold last year’s sales, let alone have an increase in sales,” he says.
Gerrard says each year Baker’s Delight helps 125 tenants renegotiate leases with landlords and many landlords include a 5% increase in rent per annum in the contracts.
“There are six annual increases which take place through over the course of the lease anyway, making that an increase of 30% in rent over six years. On top of that they are asking for another 20% to 40%.”
“They’re not being reasonable on their opening offers,” he says.
Gerrard says the system has become unbalanced because legislation is “written in favour of the landlords”.
Gerrard says changes need to be made which force retail landlords to use third-party figures to set rent increases.
“The legislators should listen to the retail bodies, like the Australian Retailers Association, and rework it so the balance of power comes back,” he says.
The comments from Gerrard come days after Harris Farm Markets co-chief executive Tristan Harris urged the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to examine lease agreements and new store developments as part of its investigation into the duopoly of Coles and Woolworths.
“Coles and Woolworths are looking well into the future in terms of where they can put down a store and are happy to run it at a loss,” he told The Australian Financial Review.


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V3 attended the launch of O2's Wallet application on Wednesday and was given a demonstration of the service in action by the Money division's commercial director, Simon Cottenham.
He showed us how the app can be used to send money between devices on any UK mobile network and explained some of the security testing that the firm had done to ensure the service should withstand an outside threats.
The application works on iOS, Android and BlackBerry devices, but not the Windows Phone platform, although there is a web-based version that can be accessed.
AMD's Ryzen roadmap on track
Celebrate your ability to use both legs with this low-cost but sturdy entry to the standing world
The framework has suffered from security flaws, including being used to create false clicks
An official announcement is expected soon


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Bitcoin COLLAPSE is IMMINENT! Watch out for the cryptocurrency MARKET CRASH!
Oh my god.
Ladies and gentlemen, hold down your wigs and top hats made of aluminum foil.
I am sorry, but I have to be the bearer of very bad news.
You may have noticed that the cryptocurrency market has been on an all time high for the past few weeks.
Well, this ends now.
You see, the entire market is controlled by artificial intelligence.
Algorithms for the exchange of coins control the entire market.
Who do you think is behind this?
Well, I can tell you that this cryptocurrency system will be adopted by the new world order, right after the collapse of the dollar.
China will be the new world power.
Through cryptocurrency exchanges, they will devalue the US dollar.
This will come to pass.
It is inevitable.
The value of the bitcoin is falling and this is no accident.
The powers behind the crypto market are controlling this collapse, to make the people who hold BTCs give up and exchange it for USDs.
The days of the US dollar are counted.
The crypto market is centralized.
It has always been.
The big exchanges control the flow and value of the crypto coins.
It looks like the banks have found a clever way to make the millennials lose money on exchanges, while at the same time collapsing the US economy.
I laugh at you.
If you are still buying bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies, I hope you know that you are buying on a high value.
Those who wish to enter the market should wait a few weeks.
An all time low approaches.
Failure to comply with the rules of the banking artificial intelligence which controls the crypto market, will probably result in permanent loss of monetary resources, through bad investment choices.


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(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) As the gun debate continues across the country, local store owners are weighing in on the issue.
Ryan Sullivan, the owner of A-1 Gunrunners in St. Joseph believes that education and training could be the key to keeping children safe.
"That's something that we need out there and that's something that we need bad," Sullivan said. "And we need to teach our kids at the earliest ages that firearms can kill, Firearms can wound, firearms can hurt."
Sullivan offers training at his store but thinks that it is important for every person that walks out of his shop should know about gun safety, however, he doesn't believe training should be mandated by the government.
"We give you an inch, they will take a mile and they will take every inch of that mile," Sullivan said.
Some stores have already begun to take the responsibility out of the government's hands by implementing their own rules.
Walmart, Krogers and Dick's Sporting Goods have all changed their policies about gun sales.
Some are limiting what kinds of guns are sold in stores while others will not sell any guns to anyone under the age of 21.
"Based on what's happened and looking at those kids and those parents, it moved us all unimaginably," Dick's Sporting Goods CEO Ed Stack said. "To think about the loss and grief that those kids and those parents had, we said 'we need to do something.' We're taking these guns out of all our stores permanently."
Federal lawmakers continue to debate how to respond. In Missouri, 27 gun bills have been introduced this legislative session, but only one of those bills was in response to the school shooting.


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Activision is reportedly considering the inclusion of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in upcoming Call of Duty titles, as an insider claimed it is currently under discussion.
While NFTs have been all the rage in recent months, it’s rare to come across a project announcement without some amount of controversy.
Whether it is alleged scam or “cringe” marketing campaignshave many of the top figures in the industry outspoken against cryptocurrency-based schemes, especially as they involve video games.
In fact, Valve has even gone so far as to Direct ban NFT games on Steam, one of the largest distribution platforms today.
Despite the near-endless waves of controversy, Activision is reportedly considering a way to implement NFTs in its biggest franchise, Call of Duty.
The report comes via alleged insider ‘RalphsValve’, who is a… great deal from CoD specific information in the past months.
In an April 4 post, they claimed that “NFT incorporation is reportedly being considered by Activision.” While nothing is set in stone yet, and it appears to be quite early in the pipeline, it is reportedly being talked about.
“NFTs have been under review and consideration for a few months now,” they said. Datum recent kickback however, for some NFT-based gaming projects, there’s always a chance it could “fall through”.
There’s no telling exactly how NFTs would be included in the CoD series, if presumed plans go ahead. We could see everything from weapon skins to phone cards delivered over the blockchain in this hypothetical future.
NFTs have been reviewed and considered for a few months now. With EA’s immediate opposition to NFTs, it could fail completely.
MTX and content structures are influenced by trends and forecasts, NFTs seem to be just that at the moment.
— Ralph (@RalphsValve) Apr 4, 2022
With a broader user interface “overhaul” reportedly in the works, with Activision looking to “personalize” user accounts with more depth than ever before, NFTs could be one of those ways to make that happen.
Obviously, it’s worth taking all of this with a huge grain of salt for now. Chances are, these alleged conversations have already stopped in the face of the copious NFT drama in the gaming industry.


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Gira reveals new KNX video for the Smart Home
The video aims to act as a resource that specifiers, architects, designers and installers can use
Gira, a full-range supplier of intelligent building technology, has revealed its new video highlighting the benefits of a KNX Smart Home by Gira.
The new video, available on YouTube, demonstrates all the ways in which a KNX Smart Home can be used, and aims to act as a resource that luxury specifiers, architects, designers and installers can use to demonstrate how the product fits in to a project.
Mark Booth Managing Director, Gira UK says “Everyone seems to know the term ‘smart home’, yet the mainstream is still grappling with the true meaning of this ever-expanding market. There are technically two options for intelligent build specification - isolated and system solutions – however, as the name suggests, isolated solutions are independent mini-systems, which can very quickly reach their limits.”
“In light of this, Gira wanted to introduce a new and highly informative video that anyone can access online (via YouTube) to offer a clear understanding of the virtues of KNX building technology versus conventional, purely electromechanical solutions” says Mark.
Watch the video here:


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Electric and driverless cars could boost Australia’s economy by $92 billion by 2050, a rise of two to three percent over projected GDP without new mobility, according to a new study.
Uber has made its debut as a public company, raising US8.1 billion (A$11.5 billion) with the completion of its initial public offering and listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
Global ride sharing giant Uber is set to go public with a listing on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.
Holden is ramping up its Maven car-sharing business.
Stating the move "significantly expands driver earning potential" for Australian DiDi driver-partners as it delivers access to thousands of Chinese DiDi users in Australia, Chinese DiDi roaming has arrived.
Cashback shopping platform ShopBack has introduced a ride comparison feature into its app, allowing Australians to compare prices of Uber and Ola cabs, book a ride and even get money back.
Ride-sharing service Ola has launched in Melbourne and has flagged future launches in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, Canberra, Adelaide, Darwin and Hobart.
Uber is set to launch uberPOOL in Australia, following its introduction in other global markets in August 2014.
After a successful soft launch in Perth, the Indian ride-sharing company Ola is offering "free rides for a week to riders and increased earnings potential for driver-partners".
Popular Indian ride-sharing platform Ola is revving its engines with a planned entry into Australia in early 2018, and has put out the call for driver-partners in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
Innovation is driving the growth of the global ride-sharing industry with service providers and operators likely to pull in an estimated US$11 billion in revenue this year, increasing to US$19 billion in 2022.
Ride-sharing service Uber is partnering with safe drinking campaign DrinkWise to give away $1 million in ride discounts over the Christmas-New Year season as part of a campaign to help reduce deaths on the road.
Taxi payments company Cabcharge sees substantial opportunities for growth in taxi, rideshare and hire car trips in the current Australian market for these services, markets in which all taxi companies are under growing pressure from newcomer Uber.
Taxi payment company Cabcharge has levelled the primary blame for a decline in full year 2106 revenues at regulatory changes in the taxi industry as well as “aggressive” competition in the national taxi market.
Victoria will become the fifth state or territory in Australia to legalise Uber, after the state government did a deal with the Sex Party to work together on legislation to bring about the change in the law governing ride-sharing services.
Hamish Petrie, Ingogo’s founder and CEO supports yet questions the ACT Government’s upcoming taxi industry ride sharing reforms.
The Australian Taxi Industry Association (ATIA) says the ACT Government’s rushed uberX ride sharing decision is ‘flawed’, is a pitch for popularity and won’t pave the way.
The Moovit local transport app is now officially serving selected Australian cities following a beta period that attracted more than 200,000 users.
Ridesharing taxi disruptor Uber is slowly conquering the consumer market in Australia and New Zealand and it now has Cabcharge squarely in its sights, announcing Uber for Business.
Linux is becoming worse than Windows. :-(
I have. https://itwire.com/opin...
Instead of complaining about it, do something - use Linux, or better still, a Mac. Microsoft is dead to me,[…]
While flowcharts might be of help to management at a high level, they are of little use in programming (which[…]
On Trustpilot (https://www.trustpilot.com/..., 88% of TomTom users are blown away by how bad TomTom Service is. Comments range from TomTom[…]


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As beverage companies compete to grow their non-carbonated drinks divisions, energy drink companies have often been subject to buyout rumors.
A terminated distribution agreement between an energy drink company and a leading beverage company is leading to more merger and acquisition speculation in the industry.
What Happened: Bang and PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP) announced the termination of a distribution agreement Thursday effective immediately. The previous agreement between Bang and Pepsi wasn’t set to expire until October 2023.
Bang will not seek out new distribution partners and PepsiCo could look elsewhere for growth in the energy drink sector.
Stifel analyst Mark Astrachan issued a note discussing the deal termination Thursday. The analyst highlighted Monster Beverage Corp (NASDAQ:MNST) as a potential winner and also discussed a potential buyout of Monster or Celsius Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CELH) by Pepsi.
“We view the announcement as positive for the largest energy drink brands as transitioning distribution is likely to be quite disruptive and could hurt shelf space as Bang’s total distribution points increased 50% under PepsiCo’s distribution,” Astrachan said.
Without Bang, Pepsi’s market share in the energy drink market will drop. Bang has a U.S. share of 6.4% and Pepsi has a 5.5% share with its Mountain Dew and Rockstar brands.
Potential Acquisitions: Astrachan sees an opportunity for Pepsi to go the acquisition route to improve its position in the energy drink space.
“We think PepsiCo could seek to acquire Celsius, the fourth-largest U.S. energy drink brand, with a 4.1% market share, and with 218% average growth on a TTM basis reflecting strong distribution gains.”
The analyst noted strong gains in distribution coming from a partnership with Anheuser-Busch Inbev (NYSE:BUD) and also stronger brand awareness for the company.
“Duplicating current Bang distribution, we estimate PepsiCo could double Celsius’ current distribution, meaningfully accelerating market share and sales growth for the brand. We also think PepsiCo could expedite international expansion for Celsius.”
Recent data from Nielsen shared by Beverage Insights shows Celsius sales up 183% year-over-year in the last four weeks. Data from Nielsen also shows energy drink companies C4 and Ghost seeing strong gains.
Through May 21, Celsius had trailing 12-month sales of $417 million according to the NielsenIQ data.
The Case For Pepsi Buying Monster: Aside from acquiring Celsius, the analyst also sees the potential for a buyout of Monster by PepsiCo. One potential hurdle is Monster being distributed by rival Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), which owns 19% of the energy drink company.
“Despite the breakup fee to be paid to Coke, we estimate a deal could still be accretive given significant cost synergies. An acquisition of Monster would also increase scale in a number of international markets where PepsiCo’s beverage share under-indexes,” Astrachan said.
The analyst sees Monster producing low-double-digit revenue growth for the “foreseeable future” and rates the stock a Buy with a price target of $105.
Celsius has a market capitalization of $4.8 billion compared to a market cap of $48.8 billion for Monster.
Related Link: After Failed Coke Energy Launch, Coudl The Company Go All In With Monster Acquisition
Why It’s Important: Pepsi could receive a termination fee as part of the deal with Bang ending that could top $200 million, Astrachan said.
Without Bang, Pepsi’s market share of energy drinks it distributes will fall below 10%, significantly lower than rival Coca-Cola with Monster and Red Bull. While an acquisition is not a foregone conclusion, the odds of Pepsi taking a look at companies in the space just greatly increased.
Celsius reported first-quarter revenue growth of 167% with a reported $133.4 million. The company saw domestic revenue increase 217% year-over-year to $123.5 million, with distribution expansion helping to power the quarter.
The company saw its distribution network pass 140,000 locations in the U.S. in the first quarter, up 53% year-over-year.
Hints of an acquisition by Pepsi in the space could also lead to more chatter about Coca-Cola and others taking a look at Monster again. With its 19% ownership and distribution partnership, Coca-Cola has often been named as a potential acquirer of Monster.
Alcoholic beverage company Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) was also linked by Bloomberg as a company that held talks with Monster around a potential merger.
The U.S. energy drink sector saw retail sales grow 9.2% in 2020 according to data from Mintel. Forecasts see the sector hitting $20 billion by 2025, or nearly double the total from 2015.
CELH, MNST Price Action: Celsius Holdings shares are trading 1.57% higher Friday at $64.85 versus a 52-week range of $38.31 to $110.22.
Monster shares are trading 1.74% higher at $93.78 versus a 52-week range of $71.77 to $99.89.


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Fortune 500 executives have role to play in APEC summit
More than one-quarter of the Fortune 500 companies will send executives to attend the APEC 2014 CEO Summit in China, a sign that they are relying on one of the world’s biggest regional trade blocs to fuel their growth.
Yu Ping, vice-chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said that President Xi Jinping will attend the summit and deliver a keynote speech. Heads of government from the United States, New Zealand, Chile, Indonesia, Vietnam and attend.
The summit will gather 1,500 APEC economic leaders, chief executive officers and scholars in Beijing to discuss key issues facing the development of the Asia-Pacific region. The topics will include advancing regional economic integration, promoting innovative development, economic reform and growth, as well as strengthening comprehensive connectivity and global finance.
The summit and APEC Business Advisory Council dialogue with leaders will be held on Nov 9 and 10.
“Business communications will be stepped
also up to increase understanding between Chineseandinternationalcompaniesas the global economy recovers,” said Yu.
“The Asia-Pacific region has become the area with the world’s fastest economic growth, greatest potential and most active cooperation,” said Yu. “The region’s developing momentum is unprecedentedly robust with freer flows of capital, commodities, information and labor, as well as a megamarket.”
The21APECeconomiesaccount for40percent of the world’s population, 57 percent of global GDP and 46 percent of international trade. Thesummitis the premier platform for APEC economic leaders and business executives to discuss economic issues and promote regional trade, investment and cooperation.
CCPIT has been responsible for organizing Chinese business delegations to the APEC CEO Summits held in different countries since 2000.
“Eager to restore their earnings potential, all big international companies have been calling on governments in countries where they have investment to accelerate the pace of market reform, trade policies, investment conditions, government work efficiency and the rule of law,” said Zhou Shijian, a senior researcher at TsinghuaUniversity.


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AHEC attended a briefing with USDA Undersecretary for Trade Ted McKinney on the significance of the “Phase 1” trade deal with China on agricultural products. As mentioned in last week’s AHEC Trade Alert, the deal does not contain any references to the reduction of current Chinese retaliatory tariffs on US goods, but rather contains a commitment by China to increase purchases of US products—including hardwood products—by an additional $200 billion over the next two years. China is expected to accomplish this through a combination of targeted tariff exclusions, a reduction of technical barriers to trade, government purchases and Chinese government “encouragement” for the private sector to source US goods.
According to the USDA, as part of this agreement China will be re-opening its “Tariff Exclusion Process” and will begin to review applications for specific product exclusions in the near future. Attached to this email is a report produced by the US Embassy in Beijing last summer outlining the original application procedures. We understand that several Chinese companies did apply in the first round last June but to our knowledge none were approved. The US embassy believes that in light of the Phase 1 commitments the Chinese government may look more favorably on applications this time around.


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In the game's weekly update, Bungie said the feature is intended to "recognise and reward the Sherpas" among players.
Launching for the holiday season, it is aimed at players wanting to "show [friends] the way to the mountaintop," and will introduce "new rewards aimed at recognising your service to the Kinderguardian."
World of Warcraft's referral feature, "Recruit-a-Friend," rewards players for bringing others into the game, while granting bonus XP and linking new recruits with their recruiters.
Bungie has not detailed exactly how "Refer-a-Friend" will operate.
Meanwhile, Destiny will also see its November Update launch next week, which includes a new gear manager for its companion app, as well as changes to various merchants and the return of the Iron Banner.
In its recent earnings call, Activision Blizzard said Destiny had 25 million registered users.


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BlizzCon tickets on sale next month
Blizzard has announced the sale dates for tickets for this year's BlizzCon.
The tickets will go on sale in two batches on June the 2nd from 7pm PST and then again on June the 5th from 10am and are priced at 150 USD.
BlizzCon will also feature on US TV supplier Direct TV as a pay-per-view event allowing fans to gain comprehensive access to BlizzCon for 39.95 USD.
BlizzCon will hit the Anaheim Convention Centre in Anaheim, California on October 22nd and 23rd.
- The Iron Banner returns to Destiny next week
- Jason Voorhees DLC coming to Mortal Kombat X next month
- Square Enix announces their own E3 press conference
- Avalanche to reveal Just Cause 3's gameplay next week
- EA Sports Rory McIlroy PGA Tour delayed a touch
- Telltale announces a new deal with Marvel
- Sanctuary update arrives for Warframe on consoles
- Call Of Duty: Black Ops III gets another teaser trailer
- Patrice Desilets unveils his new game Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey


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Hyundai India, after the launch of the Santro CNG, has announced its second CNG product for the private owners. The Hyundai Grand i10 CNG price in India is Rs 6.39 lakh, ex-Mumbai. This price is Rs 67,000 over that of the regular Grand i10 petrol. The vehicle bookings will start in a few days and it will be available only in the Magna trim. Hyundai also offers the same for fleet owners too.
Give me more details of the Hyundai Grand i10 CNG
The Hyundai Grand i10 CNG gets a sequential Lovato kit and makes 66.6PS of power and 98Nm. In petrol guise, the engine produces 82PS of power and 114Nm. A 5-speed manual is the only option here. The petrol fuel tank capacity stands at 43 litres while the CNG is 60 litres. Hyundai hasn’t mentioned any efficiency numbers yet but expect the CNG kit to deliver around 33km/kg.
Hyundai offers a 3 years/1 lakh km warranty on the Grand i10. The same applies for the CNG model too. In terms of features, there are four power windows, a music system, 14-inch steel wheels, dual airbags, ABS with EBD, rear parking sensors and more. The Hyundai Grand i10 CNG, as of now, doesn’t have any competition. It is likely that Ford will start offering the CNG option with the Figo very soon. Maruti too will bring out the Swift CNG sometime in 2020. This is a given considering the recent announcement on the shift to petrol and hybrid versions.
The Hyundai Grand i10 is expected to receive a generation change later this year. Many times, the test mule has been spotted as well. It is likely that the CNG version is the final hurrah to the current generation and could be on sale only for a few months from now. Hyundai’s next big launch is the Venue SUV that will go on sale on May 21, 2019.


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A four wheel-drive model blitz is under way at BMW as the company attempts to catch up on the quattro success achieved by arch-rival Audi in the UK market.
Four additional xDrive cars are in the pipeline for release in the next few months as the German premium brand attempts to cash in on the popularity of go-anywhere mobility, Fleet News can reveal.
The option is being lined up for two new 4 Series models – the Gran Coupe and convertible – the 6 Series and the 2 Series Active Tourer, the first BMW front-wheel drive vehicle being launched at the Geneva Motor Show next week.
Currently, BMW has four SUV models in its line-up and offers all-drive traction in the 3 Series and 1 Series.
But officials are mindful of the fact that an extensive range of quattro versions helped Audi overtake BMW in Britain for the first time last year with 142,000 registrations achieving a 6.27% market share compared with 135,500 sales and 6.24%.
"Audi has offered four-wheel drive models for a long time and we have been late to the party, but we are delighted that the 3 Series xDrive saloon and Touring outsold the A4 quattro range when they were launched last year," said company whole life cost operations manager Lee Connolly.
"Things have changed dramatically since the snow storms started making life so difficult three years ago. The weather shifted the general public attitude to four wheel drive and we now have the confidence to move forward with more models.
"An increasing number of fleet operators who used to shy away from all-drive options now seem ready to include vehicles equipped with 4WD in basic specification on their lists as technology advances have cut the fuel efficiency penalty of all-round traction. Price reduction is also a big factor – the advantages of 4WD now equate to the cost of satellite navigation."


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China - The supplier will make a range of components for powertrains at its new facility
China - Continental has celebrated the opening of its new powertrain plant in Wuhu. The facility, which spans across an area of 24,000sq.m, will be used to produce a variety of powertrain products including thermal management components as well as sensors and actuators for both internal combustion engines and new energy vehicles.
”With the fast development of China’s urbanisation, air pollution in China’s key urban areas is a significant issue, and with 1.4 billion Chinese people there is a huge demand for clean mobility,” commented Enno Tang, president and CEO of Continental China. “The opening of our new facility in Wuhu enhances our capability to meet customer requirements in terms of both combustion and electric technologies.”
One of the key products made at the Wuhu facility will be Continental’s coolant flow control valve (CFCV), which is part of the company’s thermal management system. It helps to route hot or cold air to the right places in the powertrain. Volume production of the CFCV for an electric vehicle is scheduled to start towards the end of 2019.
A total of 22 production lines will operate in the plant. These will use low-cost automation solutions, though technologies such as automated guided vehicles will also play a key role. The shop floor includes a quality analysis room, a spare parts room and a sample room.
Various other suppliers have also been investing in facilities across China, despite the fact that sales in the world’s biggest vehicle market has been slowing. AkzoNobel, for example, has recently expanded its powder coatings facility in Changzhou, while Hanon Systems has just opened a new plant in Chongqing to make compressors and heat pump systems.


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THERE was no shortage of complete turkeys in the running for the title of worst Christmas cracker joke. But according to a new survey the cringiest of them all is: ‘Who hides in a bakery at Christmas? A mince spy!
The groan-inducing gag was chosen by one in five people polled from a shortlist of more than 50. It was so bad that it left this dismal effort trailing in second place: ‘What do you get if you cross Santa with a duck? A Christmas quacker!’
The bronze medal went to: ‘What’s a horse’s favourite TV show? Neigh-bours.’ And in fourth place was: ‘What do you call a boomerang that doesn’t come back? A stick.’
The poll was carried out by Currys PC World, which is running ‘Magic of Christmas upgraded’ TV ads with Victorians using hi-tech gadgets amid traditional festive scenes.
The chain has brought in comedian Gary Delaney (above) to ‘upgrade’ the cracker jokes — but will you think his efforts are any better? His spin on the worst gag is: ‘Who hides in a bakery at Christmas? A sensible turkey.’ And his take on the runner-up is: ‘What do you get if you cross Santa with a duck? Loads of presents, then a bill.’


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Another year has come and gone, and it won’t be long until the RPG release flood begins anew. The RPGamer staff has picked out some of the titles they are most excited for in 2022 and beyond.
Tagged: Gotham Knights
Warner Bros. released a new story trailer for Gotham Knights. The video introduces the Court of Owls, who be undertaking nefarious doings in the game next year.
Gotham Knights has been postponed until 2022. The coming months have been teased to show off more of the game during its development, though.
Warner Bros. has announced a new Batman game, sans Batman. Gotham Knights sees Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood, and Robin taking over as the protectors of Gotham City.


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Why you would make One Big Switch1:03
Christopher Zinn explains why you would register with One Big Switch and look at your health insurance options.
THE number of people using the official private health insurance comparison website has soared by 55 per cent in a year, as hundreds of thousands attempt to cut the cost of their cover.
The number of "unique visitors" to privatehealth.gov.au has grown from 315,000 to 485,000. Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek told News Limited that she had used the site to compare her own family's insurance and discovered policies providing similar coverage varied in price from $200 to $420 per month, meaning there was the potential to save thousands of dollars annually.
"That's a huge difference for your average family across the course of a year," Ms Plibersek said.
The minister found that her family's policy offered some of the best value for money on the market, which gave her peace of mind.
She implored people who had not reviewed their insurance in some time - as well as those who were seeking cheaper or better cover - to use the free comparison service.
"You wouldn't buy the first fridge you saw, or car or house, and the same goes for private health insurance," Ms Plibersek said. "And the good thing about this site is they are not trying to sell you anything."
Shaun Gath, CEO of the industry regulator, the Private Health Insurance Administration Council, said privatehealth.gov.au was "a lolly shop for consumers".
But awareness of the site was relatively low, he said.
Ms Plibersek urged insurers to compete more on price and product - "that's where I would like to see the real competition" - rather than to produce the most attractive TV advertisement.
Ms Plibersek also strongly endorsed the Big Health Insurance Switch campaign - a partnership between News Limited and consumer network One Big Switch.
In just 11 days nearly 60,000 people have joined the campaign by registering their interest in receiving an offer of discount health insurance. The campaign also aims to increase awareness about the need to shop around for cover.
"I think that it is terrific for people to have a look at whether they are getting the best value for money with their private health insurance," Ms Plibersek said.
And in response to News Limited's recent report that privately insured patients in public hospitals could be running up a taxpayer-funded treatment bill of nearly $600 million a year, Ms Plibersek said there was a "need to be careful" about people "taking our private hospital cover and not using it when they could and should be".


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Search / 21 results found Showing: 1-10 of 21
While it is on the pricier side, Cafe Abdullah’s generous portions and good quality make it a worthwhile pit stop if you need something substantial in a pinch.
BFW Pizza in Sugar Land has a uniquely Texan flair.
A new grocery store opened earlier this month in Missouri City’s Sienna neighborhood.
A Houston-based daiquiri shop chain with seven Texas locations is now open in Missouri City, Thanksgiving meals are available for those in need in Richmond, and more in this week's Nibbles & Sips.
Since 2005, Suya Hut has been operating in a quiet corner of sleepy Meadows Place, tucked away in a shopping center near the corner of Kirkwoo…
Jim Buchanan of Dozier's and Ara Malekian of Harlem Road Texas BBQ both were acknowledged by Texas Monthly in the magazine’s list of “50 BBQ Honorable Mentions" for their contributions to the state's barbecue community.
A new restaurant specializing in Thai cuisine opened last month in Sugar Land.
Two Fort Bend County barbecue joints earned the recognition of Texas Monthly in the magazine’s list of “50 BBQ Honorable Mentions” published earlier this week.


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The most illustrious wire and cable manufacturers, wire and cable machinery manufacturers and suppliers of materials for the wire and cable industry take pride in exhibiting their products and services at Cable & Wire Fair, which has undisputedly become India’s leading trade fair for the wire and cable industry.
Cable & Wire Fair 2017, which saw 10,800 visitors, 164 exhibitors, over 300 conference delegates and representations from 19 countries, had spectacular success in providing the participating wire and cable companies with a platform for advertising and networking.
Like the Cable & Wire Fair held in 2017, this year’s fair aims to give players from various segments of the wire and cable industry a good opportunity to network and to exhibit their products. It will make real business happen – something that will eventually push up economic growth. Approximately 200 exhibitors from around 25 countries will showcase their products and services at this important event. Valuable knowledge and information will be shared at the event’s collocated conference and CEO conclave.
Pragati Maidan, Delhi, provides the venue for this year’s Cable & Wire Fair. Delhi is India’s top venue for prestigious events, mainly because it is the country’s capital territory and all policy initiatives are launched here.
According to Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), India’s gross domestic product (GDP) will double over the next 10 years, growing at a rate of 7 per cent per annum. Over this period, the demand for electricity is expected to nearly double. This growth rate augurs well for the development of the wire and cable industry in India, which has already crossed Rs 60,000 crore.
The wire and cable market in India, which comprises nearly 40 per cent of the electrical industry, is growing at a CAGR of 15 per cent – thanks to the growth of the power and infrastructure sectors. The recent policy and regulatory initiatives and government schemes like Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) and Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana have given the market a major boost. It may be mentioned that under DDUGJY, the government has envisaged the electrification of all villages. With the outlay of Rs. 2.6 lakh crore announced by the government for the five-year period ending FY2022, the Transmission and Distribution sector is all set to remain in focus for quite some time. The government’s target of generation of 100 GW of solar energy by 2022 and measures like excise duty exemption for Ferro Silicon Magnesium used for manufacturing components of wind-operated electric power generators have also increased the demand for electrical wires and cables.
In addition, the government’s ‘Smart City’ project is expected to promote large-scale growth in infrastructure, telecom, power generation, T&D, engineering and automotive sectors. In addition, electric vehicles (EV) are expected to drive growth for cables and wires firms in a big way. There will be an increased demand for wires and cables when the acceptability of EV picks up. Some amount of wire will also be required to set up EV charging infrastructure.
The wire and cable industry expects a spurt in manufacturing activity and capacity expansion in sectors like steel, cement, pharma, etc.
Cable & Wire 2019 will give exhibitors an excellent opportunity to showcase their offerings and a platform for establishing a mutually beneficial relationship with other business people and potential clients.


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Blackberry Sportsbetting Application
If you own a Blackberry, have we got some terrific news for you! The Nevada Gaming Control Board has just approved sportsbetting by American Wagering Inc. for Blackberry smart phones. This is the first time this type of application has been offered and there is also an application pending for the google Android platform as well. This application can be used at the more than 70 Leroy's Horse and Sports Palace sites. The Nevada Gaming Control Board has tested this new application and has deemed it safe and secure. Next on their list of approved applications will be for the iPad and other mobile devices, but suffice to say this is a giant leap forward in the use of mobile device sportsbetting applications to date. We will continue to keep you informed as more applications for mobile devices are approved.


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Corsair Gaming (CRSR) stock has been volatile in 2021. The retail investors on Reddit’s WallStreetBets community sent Corsair stock to more than $40 on June 14 by trying to squeeze the short-sellers, but the gains soon fizzled. The stock is down 42 percent from its 52-week high and 18 percent for the year. What’s the forecast for CRSR stock, and should you buy the stock?
Gaming has never been more profitable–or more popular–than it is now, which is good news for gaming stocks like Corsair Gaming. PC gaming sales skyrocketed amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Corsair's earnings show strong growth.
In the first quarter, Corsair’s revenue rose 72 percent YoY to $529.4 million. The company reported an adjusted EPS of $0.58 compared to $0.13 in the first quarter of 2020. This significant surge was driven by strong gamer and creator peripherals segment sales. Corsair’s adjusted EBITDA rose 197 percent YoY to $80.4 million. The gaming company introduced 29 new products in the first quarter.
Corsair also raised its outlook for fiscal 2021. The company expects to report net revenue and an adjusted EBIDTA of $1.9 billion–$2.1 billion and $245 million–$265 million, respectively.
Corsair’s fundamentals are solid.
Corsair delivers massive growth and has strong fundamentals that make it more than just a meme stock. As of March 31, 2021, the company had total debt of $299 million and $121 million in cash. The good news is that Corsair lowered its debt by $28 million in the first quarter and plans to reduce it by another $72 million by the end of 2021, which will result in an additional decrease in interest expenditures. This suggests that Corsair is positioning itself for long-term growth at a rapid pace.
Corsair’s stock forecast
According to CNN Business, analysts' median target price for Corsair stock is $47.50, which is 60 percent above its current price. Among the eight analysts tracking Corsair, seven recommend a buy and one recommends a hold. None of the analysts recommend a sell. Their highest target price of $55 is 85 percent above the stock's current price, while their lowest target of $37 is 25 percent above.
Corsair stock looks attractively valued.
Corsair has an enterprise value of around $2.9 billion and is expected to report revenues of $2.1 billion in 2021, which would mean a 2021 EV-to-sales multiple of 1.4x. The multiple looks attractive compared to peer Logitech International S.A., which has 2021 EV-to-sales multiple of 3.4x.
Corsair stock is a good long-term investment.
Corsair stock looks like a good buy based on its strong growth outlook and attractive valuations. The demand for games, esports, and gaming equipment probably won't slow down after the COVID-19 pandemic. The global gaming market is expected to be worth $205 billion by 2023 compared to $176 billion in 2021.
Corsair, which sells gaming equipment for millions of PCs and consoles, is also benefiting from esports. The esports market is growing, with the viewership anticipated to reach 646 million by 2023 from 335 million in 2017. More gamers are also live streaming. As more people get interested in esports, competitive players will need high-quality gear and equipment, which fuels the demand for Corsair’s products.


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SugarCRM is an AI-driven CRM platform that does the work for marketing, sales and service teams, helping businesses reach new levels of performance and predictability, that delivers a high-definition customer experience.
Headquartered in Silicon Valley, SugarCRM is backed by Accel-KKR and has over 1.7 billion customer updates, from leads, opportunities to support cases, flowing through the platform every day. Thousands of companies in over 120 countries rely on SugarCRM to achieve a high-definition customer experience and gain real-time customer insights.
An international panel of eight SugarCRM representatives across the US, UK, EMEA, Asia and Australia, recently selected Media-Wize following a competitive pitch for an Australian PR partner.
Clare Dorrian, CMO, SugarCRM reports, “We were unanimously impressed with the cofounders of Media-Wize and the level of passion and enthusiasm they bring to their work. Media-Wize offers a senior, hands on, highly experienced team with a solid understanding of global PR accounts, tech, business, marketing and the startup ecosystem.
“We are excited to partner together to raise awareness of SugarCRM in Australia and the important role we can play in helping businesses in Australia turbocharge customer experience, boost growth and unlock insights as they prepare to rebound and thrive following the pandemic,” Clare says.
Anthony Caruana, co-CEO and co-founder of Media-Wize comments, “We are delighted to be working with SugarCRM. We commenced the engagement running a workshop with the local and global team to unlock insights into the unique stories we can help tell in the Australian region. We are excited to be working together to help Australian businesses leverage the power of unparalleled customer insights.”
Media-Wize’s growing portfolio of retainer clients also includes Tesserent and Pure Security, Australia’s largest ASX listed cyber security company, CIM a game changing building analytics platform helping the Australian commercial property sector achieve zero emissions. CiGen an Australian specialist in the realms of robotic process automation and intelligent automation along with best-selling author Claire Pales and her co-author Anna Leibel of The Secure Board book and advisory service.
Kathryn Van Kuyk, co-CEO and co-founder of Media-Wize says, “We are thrilled with the strong results we are achieving for our clients across media training, media relations, content delivery, strategic communications planning, market analysis, crisis and incident response, podcasts, webinars and video production.”


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The sequel to critically acclaimed strategy game XCOM takes us 20 years into the future, where aliens have taken over and an underground human resistance must fight to reclaim their world.
Take-Two Interactive's Strauss Zelnick: "You never want to the consumer to feel as though you've picked their pocket."
In the Dolby Cinema presentation of Disney's "Tomorrowland," fiber-optic-fed laser light engines, 4K resolution, HDR contrast and Atmos sound combine to create a breathtaking cinema experience. Tomorrow's theater experience can't come home soon enough.
The game maker closes out one of its strongest ever fiscal years. The next step: finding a big hit in the months and years after its most successful launch.
HBO Now says "no thanks" to paying Aussies, the spectre of net neutrality looms in Australia and Village Roadshow asks "won't somebody think of the children" when it comes to piracy.
The last major AAA studio operating out of Australia is closing down.
Australia loses the last of its AAA gaming studios, VPN usage skyrockets in the wake of privacy (and piracy) concerns, Netflix regrets its data-free deals and Samsung launches a new TV range with nary an OLED in sight.
The new phone aims to outdo the regular M9 by sporting a 5.2-inch screen, dual rear cameras and a fingerprint sensor.
Yet another round of rumors suggest that HTC may be prepping a larger version of its flagship smartphone, this time with a fingerprint scanner.
Sony's latest flagship slate, the Xperia Z4 Tablet, packs an octa-core processor and a 2K display inside a ludicrously skinny, waterproof body.


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INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – A brand of frozen spinach that is sold exclusively at Target stores around the country is being recalled over contamination concerns.
Superior Foods, Inc. is recalling 8,475 cases of Simply Balanced 10-oz frozen organic chopped spinach because there may be Listeria monocytogenes present.
The organism can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.
No illnesses have been reported. Anyone who bought the product is encouraged to throw it away or return it to the store where it was purchased for an exchange or full refund.
For more information click here.


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Google has officially announced its fiber broadband service will be expanding to Austin, TX. Previously only available in areas of Kansas City (both in the states of Missouri and Kansas), the service offers customers up to one gigabit per second speed. Google says that’s about 100-times faster than the average broadband service offered today. Don’t hold your breath, however. Google says they’re expecting to roll out Fiber Internet and TV service to Austin by mid-2014.
Google Fiber in Austin will offer a similar service to what customers receive in Kansas City: standalone Gigabit Internet service or Gigabit Internet with Google Fiber TV boasting about 200 HD channels. Customers will also be able to opt for free 5 mbps internet for 7 years with a one-time construction fee.
Is Google Fiber deserving of all the media hype? Yesterday, Engadget published comments on a press release officially announcing the service in Austin, but apparently the PR from Gig.U was just a test release for the official launch. As a result, the Google Fiber news has been one of the hottest topics in technology news since the start of this week.
Source: Google Fiber Blog


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Interjet Airlines announced Jan. 30, daily, nonstop service between Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and Guadalajara International Airport (GDL). The new service will offer daily nonstop flights between Chicago and Guadalajara serving both the business and leisure traveler.
“Chicago is a growing and very important market for travel to Guadalajara,” said José Luis Garza, Interjet’s chief executive officer. “We’re delighted to be able to offer business and leisure travelers everywhere we fly, our unique brand of lower prices with free checked bags on select fares, more legroom between seats and great service that has been embraced everywhere we fly.” he added.
Interjet’s new service between Chicago and Guadalajara will start Feb. 16, and operate using Airbus A320 aircraft seating 150 passengers. Round trip promotional fares from Chicago to Guadalajara will start at $228.56 taxes included. This special fare with be available until April 17, and valid for trips through April 30. Promotional fares are not available to groups nor can they be used with other promotional fares.


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Texas manufacturers are in a buzz these days regarding the expansion of the Panama Canal, as it will open up a much-desired opportunity to reach new markets in Asia. At the same time, Texas ports can expect an increase in imports.
A third-party logistics provider, Tandem Logistics is closely monitoring these developments, which could help spur in a boom of domestic production. Texas is already leading the nation in exports, and the increased shipping from major Texas locations can only increase this lead. Texas’s business-friendly environment has already created the perfect breeding ground for economic success.


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More males are going to salons with friends.
‘Bigger and better’: Hungry visitors and celebrity chefs flock to Bolton for town’s annual Food and Drink Festival
Thousands visit town for seventh Bolton Food and Drink Festival.
Gourmet street food traders, including MasterChef finalist, sign up for annual Manchester Picnic 2012 festival
Manchester’s very own family-friendly food festival will return for another course of delectable cuisine in August.
Michael Winner’s Dining Star Justine Forrest joins Jean-Christophe Novelli and Michael Caines at Bolton Food and Drink Festival
Justine Forrest announced in latest celebrity chef line up
Nicole Farhi brought her Spring/Summer 2012 collection to Manchester’s Harvey Nichols on Wednesday evening.
Michelin-starred chefs Michael Caines and Jean-Christophe Novelli unite for Bolton Food and Drink Festival
Five star chefs are cooking up excitement ahead of this year’s Bolton Food and Drink
Grazia founder Fiona McIntosh presented her thoughts to a full house of fashion lovers on Monday evening
Harvey Nichols’ Spring/Summer fashion show was taken to Campfield Market Hall
Manchester City Football Club have teamed up with Harvey Nichols to unveil a new concept box at their Eastlands based Etihad Stadium.
The Manchester Loves Fashion event kept hundreds of young fashionistas entertained throughout the night on Thursday.
Harvey Nichols Fashion Show: High fashion versus high street – catwalk show proves everyone can still be on trend
Goth fantasy was a key look unveiled at the Harvey Nichols’ fashion show in Manchester city centre last night.


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Fring, a free communications service available for a number of different mobile platforms that most recently brought 2-way video calling to the iPhone 4, announced that low-cost international calling starting at just $.01 per minute will be coming to the iPhone. Over the weekend, the company announced that fringOut is now available for Nokia phones and is “soon to be launched” for the iPhone and Android devices.
Comprehensive fringOut calling rates can be found on fring’s site here. If the release of fringOut for Nokia S60 devices is any indication, the fring app for iPhone will get an update with the new feature and users will be able to buy credit within the app to make fringOut calls.
We’ll keep an eye out for the release of fringOut and let you know when it becomes available for the iPhone. For AT&T customers in the U.S. fringOut will likely be a compelling alternative given AT&T’s international calling rates that start around $.15 per minute (mobile to mobile) for most European countries and go up to more than $4.00 per minute for other countries under the company’s WorldConnect add-on plan that costs $3.99 per month.


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Most of the bugs you’ll find on your gadget are ones which can only be exploited by a highly-informed hacker or an expert of this domain. Not every time, though, you need to be a hacker to get into someone’s phone.
A new bug in Android’s lock-screen passwords can allow even a non-hacker to intrude your privacy. A combination of hundreds of characters is all that’s needed for the OS to crash in the hands of the exploiter. The bug was discovered by researchers at University of Texas.
From the lock-screen, you enter the emergency dial window and from there you bombard the phone with these commands. The researcher John Gordon also uploaded a video of the bug’s proof on a Google Nexus 4.
It affects Android phones running on unpatched versions of Lollipop between version 5.0.0 and 5.1.1, or before build LMY48M. That means more than 20 percent of all Android devices are affected by it. Google has already released a fix on the version 5.1.1 of the OS on its Nexus devices.
It may or may not affect other Lollipop users, too. Protecting yourself is easy enough. Just don’t use a password to lock your phones. Thankfully, Android comes with other methods including PINs and patterns too, so you aren’t short of options.
Or you can once again try not to give your phone to any strangers, ever, which is certainly an even easier way.


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A new study from Fortune Business Insights, a company offering market studies and consulting services, has said that the enterprise blockchain markets will rise $21 Billion by 2025.
On May 12, the report by GlobeNewswire stated:
“The blockchain technology market size stood at USD 1.64 billion in 2017, and is projected to reach USD 21.07 billion by the end of 2025 […] exhibiting a CAGR of 38.4% during 2018-2025.”
According to the Fortune Business Insights report, the main reason for the growth of the global blockchain technology market is that more enterprises worldwide are increasing their investment in blockchain research and development from within.
However, the research also expects that rising interest from public or government authorities for growing research and regulatory approvals of products in the market will also stimulate the expansion of the blockchain industry.
The Linux Foundation
Fintech & Blockchain Software House
“BFSI industry emerged as an early adopter of blockchain technology with the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009-10.”
Thus, in spite of the current global market recession and increasing unemployment rates, many blockchain jobs continue to rise due to the booming industry.


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In an effort to protect its lucrative “The Muppet Show” and “Sesame Street” brands online, the Jim Henson Co. has made Warner Bros. Online’s AcmeCity its official Internet fansite community, a deal that may eventually lead to the production of original Muppet-based shows for newly launched Entertaindom.com, as well.
Henson will provide AcmeCity users with content — approved photos, video clips, other multimedia — to create Web pages for “Muppet Show’s” Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies and Fraggle Rock.
There are more than 8,000 unrelegated Web sites related to “Muppet Show” on Geocities, alone. AcmeCity will give Henson control over what is used on future fansites.
“Our deal with AcmeCity empowers our fan base to deepen their relationships with Henson’s characters, while enabling our company to preserve our intellectual property rights on the Web,” said Craig Allen, veep and general manager of Jim Henson Interactive. “We need to look after our content on the Internet as a business. Warner Bros. Online is in the business of protecting brands and we share the same issues as intellectual property holders.”
Other brands that have made AcmeCity their official home on the ‘Net, include Warner Bros.’ Looney Tunes, The Jetsons, The Flintstones, Scooby Doo, Rosie O’Donnell, Adam Sandler, comic book icon Stan Lee and Chris O’Donnell, among others.
AcmeCity has over 750,000 subscribers and more than 2 million pages of content, policed by Warner Bros. and Time Warner.
Participants share in advertising revenues and receive a cut of the retail revenues. Nearly a quarter of every dollar collected from the sites goes toward the infrastructure and personnel that protects the brands and stars.
“From the inception of AcmeCity, our goal was to create an environment where the appeal of mainstream personalities and brands could be extended to the Web in communities that were family- and advertiser-friendly,” said Jim Moloshok, prexy of Warner Bros. Online. “The time is long overdue when the Hollywood community and stars should fight back over the pillaging of their likenesses online.”
As for Entertaindom, Allen said, “We’re creating a new way for people to come into contact with our characters. We really want to open the door for collaboration with our audience, to create a digital Muppet studio.”
He added that the Jim Henson Co. is also looking at crossing over the characters into vidgames and other digital properties in the coming year.


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In response to a new report launched by the EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health, the American Feed Industry Association calls the report “yet another organized attack on animal agriculture.”
A statement released by AFIA says the report is not reflective of the current and accurate science on the industry’s substantial sustainability advances. AFIA’s President and CEO Joel G. Newman says the report’s calls to “return to primarily an ‘agrarian lifestyle’ will undo years of research and innovation, while likely keeping nutritious and high-quality protein and dairy products out of the hands of the people who need them the most.”
The 50-page report advises consumers to drastically reduce their meat and dairy consumption for their health and for the good of the planet. It plans to promote the report vigorously over the next month.


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Ride sharing service Uber is expanding in Toronto despite still receiving plenty of opposition from numerous parties. The U.S. based company announced today that it is launching its uberPOOL service in Canada’s biggest city from January 13 at 2 p.m.
The uberPOOL service builds on the UberX ride sharing model, allowing customers to spread the cost of a ride by pooling with other riders going on the same route. UberX works more like a traditional taxi service, shuttling one or a group of passengers with the same destination. UberPOOL works by letting customers who would otherwise not know each other pool together on the same route to spread cost, making it as much as 30 per cent more affordable than UberX.
“Our vision for uberPOOL is simple,” the statement said. “We want to reduce the number of cars on the road, while providing Torontonians with transportation that’s more affordable than ever. When two people share their ride, that’s one less car on the road and a cheaper fare for both riders.”
The service will be available between Jane Street and Victoria Park Avenue up to Highway 401, including the Yonge corridor north of the 401 to Finch Avenue between Bathurst Street and Bayview Avenue. Uber says that the service will cost $4 for a minimum fare, with up to two occupants allowed along the same route. If a second passenger joins the route they pay a minimum extra $1, but if no extra passenger arrives, the original occupant who selected the service will get a solo ride at the reduced uberPOOL price.
In recent months Uber has won numerous victories in Toronto, despite still facing fierce opposition and still effectively operating in the city illegally. The city council voted in November to legalize UberX by drawing up legitimate regulations for the service, expected to be completed this year. However, Uber has angered politicians by continuing to operate unregulated in the meantime, while taxi associations are protesting the service for its practices and the threat Uber poses to the traditional taxi industry.
Last week Aviva Canada, the second largest auto insurance provider in Ontario, announced that it will be launching a ride-sharing oriented auto insurance policy next month. The coverage would be for those working less than 20 hours with Uber and other services, potentially clearing up a problem Uber has faced with drivers operating without adequate auto insurance protection.


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This Sunday, come out to the KGB Bar and meet The Millions! A pile of staffers including C. Max Magee, Garth Risk Hallberg, Emily St. John Mandel, Sonya Chung, and yours truly will be there, and a good number of them will be reading their work. The event even ends by nine, so you can rush home to see Mad Men.
Amazon announced that on Christmas day it sold more Kindle ebooks than regular books (and that the Kindle is not the site’s most popular gift ever). Chadwick Matlin outlines at The Big Money the reasons why the Christmas day surge in ebook sales don’t matter. The New York Times suggests each new version of the Kindle may be getting worse, and separately dubs 2010 the “Year of the Tablet.”
Stephen King, Haruki Murakami, Chris Adrian, James Frey, and Peter Nádas are all in the running for the 19th annual Bad Sex Award. The award will be presented by the UK’s Literary Review on December 6th. Last year’s prize(?) went to Rowan Somerville for his work(?) in The Shape of Her. If you’d like to read snippets of the sex scenes in question, check out the publication’s Twitter feed.
Year in Reading alum Chang-Rae Lee has a new book out this week, and its cover is making headlines. Readers who buy the limited edition of On Such A Full Sea will get the first 3D printed book cover in publishing history. According to the printers, each cover took fifteen hours to make.
The New York Times dives into why prisons fear the New Jim Crow certain states have gone to great efforts to allow their prisons to ban it and in other states it’s fairly difficult to obtain if you’re a prisoner. We’re big fans of the New Jim Crow here; it was a Millions staff pick and extremely popular on Year in Reading lists back in 2013.
Paravion Press, a small press born in a small Greek island’s bookshop, print postcard-sized editions of short stories that are designed to be sent by mail, complete with a page for your correspondence and an envelope. To celebrate their Valentine’s publication of Katherine Mansfield’s “Feuille d’Album,” they’re holding a Romantic Haiku Challenge, whose winner will receive a free copy.


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2. Here's another big look at Square's finances, which are not great. It lost over $100 million last year, but the company insists it could be profitable if it wants. It says it's spending money to grow.
3. Apple's deal to buy Beats will not be formalized until next week, according to Peter Kafka at Re/Code. That's longer than expected.
5. It's not really tech, but the digital media world was abuzz over the news Jill Abramson, the executive editor of the New York Times was fired. The New Yorker says she was fired, in part, because she learned she was paid less than her male predecessor, and started asking about why that was so.
7. Speaking of the NSA, here's a big Frontline documentary on it. (We haven't watched, but it's at the top of Techmeme right now, so it's probably good.)


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What happened: As Pakistan faces a declining economy, the federal government has hinted at a ban on importing luxury goods. It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan’s foreign reserves are depleting as a climbing trade deficit counters the country. A local publication quoted the development as, “However, the federal government remained silent on what could be considered as a luxury item, but imposed a ban.”
Details: On the other hand, various reports by local publications claim that a source from Pakistan’s Ministry of Trade has stated that the government led by Shehbaz Sharif and coalition parties have hinted at a ban on the import of luxury items. Whereas, it is being speculated that the luxury items include pricey perfumes, fancy items, and a few cars too.
More: Pakistan, in the current scenario, faces a various economic crisis, as the governments keep on blaming the previous ones for the situation.


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You can call it the ‘iWatch.’ You can call it a ‘wearable computer.’ Heck, you can even call it a ‘bad idea.’ But after a week of hearing reports from major news outlets that Apple is working on a wristwatch-like device, it looks like it’s happening.
And that certainty becomes a little more solid this afternoon, as iMore’s Rene Ritchie adds his weight to the rumor. Ritchie, who has proven to be very accurate with Apple intel, reports that Apple is indeed moving forward with the project…
In a wide-ranging report on the status of ongoing Apple rumors, Ritchie writes:
“The iWatch project — regardless of how the device is eventually named or marketed — sounds like its a go. We haven’t heard anything specific about feature sets or timelines yet, but we have heard it’s moving forward.
If the entire project sounds like a dumb idea to you, however, just remember how dumb Apple phones, tablets, mini tablets, and set top boxes sounded to many back before — and even after — they were first announced.”
For some background, Rene was the first to report last year that Apple was going to move to a smaller dock connector in its iDevices—he nailed it back in February. He also correctly predicted the media event dates for the iPad 3 and the iPhone 5.
And according to him, the rumors are true. Apple is in fact working on a new kind of device that will likely be worn on the wrist. Unfortunately, though, his sources don’t offer up any new information. But the fact that it’s ‘a go’ is still a big deal.
Bloomberg reported earlier this week that the Cupertino company has a team of over 100 product designers working on the project. And a report from The Wall Street Journal last weekend claimed that it’s already testing designs with Foxconn.


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Events like trade shows and conferences are a good way for marketing professionals to network, and they are also the most effective method for engaging C-suite decision-makers.
43% of marketers said prompting website visitors to opt in to company emails was effective, and just 16% said this was the most difficult.
This infographic from Social Strategizer illustrates how Facebook can be used for email list building.
Slightly more than two-thirds of B2B marketers are using data to analyze customers.
Mobile applications emerge as the clear winner; they’re not only used by the most respondents (81%), but are considered an essential channel by the largest proportion (38%).
Email marketers have a variety of goals in mind when conducting their campaigns, ranging from selling products and services (62%) to generating leads (52%), driving site traffic (51%) and driving brand awareness (51%).
Compared to last year, the average number of tactics used has risen from 12 to 13.
For paid search, marketers ranked the landing page as critical for optimization, cited by more than half of agency respondents and nearly half of client-side marketers.
93% of respondents now using content marketing (up from 91% last year) and 42% finding their efforts effective (up from 36%).
Eighty-four percent of B2B marketers used social networks this year, up from 79% in 2012, while both blogs and microblogs saw a decline in B2B use this year.